14-09-2020, 08:01 PM
When I disassembled my RP engine to sort a savage oil leak I was surprised to find that one con rod was very tight on the journal and another one had been encouraged to "falls under its own weight" state by the expedient of leaving the castellated nuts not much more than finger tight, although captured by a split pin.
I have spent many hours so far blueing the journal, nipping up the rod and cap and then scraping the blued areas to remove a British Standard Gnat's. My scraper is sharp and well lapped so taking tiny amounts is not difficult, and I debur with a rag from an old denim trouser leg. I am ensuring the absolute minimum of blue on the journal, so I am confident I am colouring only the points of contact, with no "squidging". Interestingly, I get a very different contact picture if I rotate the rod and cap on the journal separately. My MO is to nip the the nuts up with a short ratchet each time, so I'm scraping what will be there in practice.
As a first venture into the art of scraping, I am happy with the results I am getting, but wondering if I am missing a trick, as it does take forever, although the whole experience is quite zen like.
How do others perform this task, and are there any short cuts I am missing?
I have spent many hours so far blueing the journal, nipping up the rod and cap and then scraping the blued areas to remove a British Standard Gnat's. My scraper is sharp and well lapped so taking tiny amounts is not difficult, and I debur with a rag from an old denim trouser leg. I am ensuring the absolute minimum of blue on the journal, so I am confident I am colouring only the points of contact, with no "squidging". Interestingly, I get a very different contact picture if I rotate the rod and cap on the journal separately. My MO is to nip the the nuts up with a short ratchet each time, so I'm scraping what will be there in practice.
As a first venture into the art of scraping, I am happy with the results I am getting, but wondering if I am missing a trick, as it does take forever, although the whole experience is quite zen like.
How do others perform this task, and are there any short cuts I am missing?